


I Belong With You

by sneakronicity



Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-12
Updated: 2012-11-12
Packaged: 2017-11-18 13:02:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/561362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sneakronicity/pseuds/sneakronicity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Only on missions when pretending to be other people can they truly be themselves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Belong With You

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the cottoncandy_bingo prompt "Where we don't have to hide". Marvel owns all, including my soul. Title from "Ho Hey" by the Lumineers, which I also do not own and can't stop listening to.

They sat close together at a small round table outside of a cafe in Versailles, her fingers curled around his arm as she leaned against him. She wore a green silk scarf on her head that allowed only a glimpse of her eye catching red hair, and he sported a pair of dark sunglasses that perfectly hid the direction of his gaze. For all intents and purposes they appeared to be just one of any number of normal couples who fancied this spot for breakfast and a bit of people watching. Nobody could know that it was a certain person they watched for.

“He just went inside,” Clint Barton said quietly, his head inclined toward his partner though his eyes were fixed on a building across the street. 

“The meeting should take an hour, at least,” Natasha Romanoff replied. Trailing her free hand down Clint’s arm, she turned his wrist just slightly so she could catch a glimpse of his watch. 9:23.

The waitress took their order and for the next ten minutes they sat in a comfortable silence, her head resting upon his shoulder and his fingers tracing lazy patterns on her knee just under the hem of her filmy sun dress. These were the moments they lived for. They enjoyed their jobs and all the fighting and the danger that went along with being an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., but it was the moments like these that they loved, the quiet moments when they not only didn’t have to hide their relationship, but could openly flaunt it. Fraternization was frowned upon in their organization, though everyone knew that it happened. The problem was that it was considered dangerous, it clouded their judgement and it was a distraction. If a relationship was proven they wouldn’t be harshly reprimanded but they would be separated, partnered with other people. 

To Natasha and Clint that was the harshest sentence of all.

“While we’re here we might as well have some fun with it,” Clint spoke when their food arrived and they had to disentangle themselves to eat. Some days he wished things could be different, that they could be like this all the time instead of having to hide and survive on stolen moments. He was tired of sneaking around and hiding his feelings. They were happy together, they were in love, but they couldn’t share it with anyone. He wished it could be different, but until then they had the times like these to take full advantage of, creating vivid memories to last until the next opportunity.

“And just what do you have in mind?” Natasha asked with a suggestive curl of her lips. A moment later she was laughing at his expression. She never felt freer than in these moments; she never felt more like herself than in the times when she was essentially meant to be someone else.

“Anything,” he replied with a shrug, smiling at her laughter. She laughed far too seldom, and it had quickly become one of his favourite things about her. Shoveling a bit of crepe into his mouth, he looked thoughtful for a moment. “We can be whoever we want and whatever we want.” Swallowing the food, he set his fork on his plate and leaned closer to Natasha, a wickedly playful grin on his face. “So, Ms. Romanoff, what do you want to be?”

Natasha watched him for a moment, memorizing everything from the crook of his lips to the twinkle in his eye. She owed this man so much. He hadn’t spared her life, he had taken it and given her a new one in its place, a better one, but it wasn’t only that. He had given her his friendship, his trust and his love and all he had wanted in return was the same from her; it surprised her how easy that had been. All her life people had used her and taken from her and given nothing back. They had torn her down where Clint built her up, they had seen her as a toy or a weapon while he saw her as a woman, his equal. He had taken her from her old life and she had given him her heart freely. Her heart, her mind, her body; they all belonged to him now almost as much as her.

What did she want to be? 

“Yours,” she said simply, leaning closer herself, drawn in by his smile. She saw his expression change, the playfulness changing into something much softer, more sincere.

“We don’t have to pretend for that,” Clint replied, closing the remaining distance between them to kiss her softly. She was his just as he was hers, and maybe one day they could share that fact with everyone. For now, though, they would cherish the moments they had, these rare moments of pure honest and visibility, as if each was their last. In their line of work this was always a stronger possibility than for most.


End file.
